Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Cosm-s Ebb
by MasN2
Summary: An introspective story of an amnesiac Umbreon discovering more about himself and finding his place in the world. Features unconventional plot and dark themes. Currently on hold.
1. Chapter 0: Illumination

Chapter 0: Illumination

A Tododile's life is a good life. Every day I go out to Tranquil Grove to fight and eat, every week I explore a new place. The world is vast, and it seems that I'll never run out. Every evening I return home to Lake Luna, and rest for the coming day.

I wouldn't say that I'm wasting my time. The mystery dungeons make me stronger with each passing day, and I'm constantly learning more about the world around me. I don't know what the goal of life is, but I think that what I'm doing is what people would envy. Not that I really care. Yet the question keeps coming back to me. Why am I not doing something better with my time? And I can never come up with an answer that would satisfy myself.

And it comes back to me again while I'm on my way home this evening. And I think: _I want to make more of my life, but I don't know how. Sure, I could join the guild, but what would it give me that I don't already have now? What could it give me that would be worth the freedom I'd be giving up? If Arceus is watching, if there's anything in mind for me, then show me the way!_

There's no one watching. There never is. Which is fine. I'm just going to go back home, come back the next day, and get the thought out of my head. No point listening to a doubt without reason. I wonder if the thought is mine. I don't see a reason for me to ask that question of myself, when I'm already so satisfied. Yet I don't see a way anyone else could get into my head either. I like how lonely this forest is. Some pokemon from Redfor talk about crooks that steal item, steal pokemon, or worse. And I'm thankful that it's never a problem for me.

I take another look at my surroundings. The forest is a bit brighter than usual, as if there were to the right, lighting it up. I turn in that direction, and see a prone pokemon, face towards the ground. _Looks like an Umbreon. Not that I'd know. I haven't seen any myself yet.  
_

Six types of pokemon are native to this area. Dark-types are not one of them. _Thus, he's not native to here._ They are the traitors in stories, the pokemon that parents warn about in bedtime stories. Well, other parents. I don't know my own.

But I don't see why dark-types are any less pokemon than others. And the Sableye I met the other day seemed nice enough. Her name was… ugh, I'm not good with names. And that Umbreon doesn't look like it'd attack me or anything, just lying there at that. I want to learn more about him. Or her. And I don't really believe in divine intervention, but what are the chances an Umbreon just got here one way or another? I don't care if 'curiosity killed the croc'. I don't hesitate. I head over.

* * *

Author's Notes:

* * *

0\. Published on (4/26/2018)

1\. Hopefully you are aware without me saying this: I do not own Pokemon.

2\. Dividing this story into three seasons. I have the first, the second, and the last planned out. I might end up writing more between the second and the last, but three is my goal for now.

3\. Please leave a review for my story. I'd like to get some feedback, so that I can improve my writing.

4\. (4/26/2018) The title of the story is supposed to be **Cosm*s Ebb**. It seems that this website doesn't allow asterisks in titles.

5\. (4/28/2018) Added a - to the title, as it seems to be the closest thing allowed to an *. Edited the fifth paragraph, and fixed a small spelling mistake. Chapter 2 is still being written. Thanks to the people who have reviewed by story so far. Keep sending them in! :)

6\. (5/01/2018) Another minor edit to the fifth paragraph.

7\. (5/09/2018) Edited summary. Renamed from "Prologue" to "Chapter 0". Added Introduction.

8\. (5/15/2018) Added cover image. Originally the image also had a picture of an Umbreon and a Tododile, but I didn't want to get mucked up in copyright stuff, so I just removed the layers. So all you are left with is ..that's not a moon, is it?

9\. (5/19/2018) Improved cover image. Smoothed out the font, faded the right edge, and added background starfield.

10\. (5/26/2018) Removed introduction. A more detailed introduction as well as my motive to write is now on my profile. Warning: spoilers. Read only if you're curious.

11\. (5/27/2018): Slightly modified last three paragraphs to include information about the biodiversity of Piny Woods.


	2. Chapter 1: Shadows

**ARC I: Isolation  
**

Chapter 1: Shadows

 _"What is a shadow? A shadow is a form of darkness. But darkness is not defined by being something, but an absence. Specifically, darkness is the absence of light. And a shadow is darkness in the presence of light. An isolated island in a sea of light, just as an image is an solitary object in an empty void."_

* * *

 ** _.. .. .. .. but seems that now  
this knowledge transfer's at an end,  
so keep in mind all shown and how,  
while you seek your initial friend._**

 _But… I just forgot everything you've told me, if you even said anything in the first place. Whoever you are. I hope I'm not imagining things._

I hear footsteps in the distance. _Someone's coming. Maybe this mysterious voice doesn't like company. I guess that's why it had to stop then. But who was it talking to me, anyways? If only it continued a bit longer, I might be able to remember at least part of what was being told me. It seemed like it could be important. But maybe… if it was later, I would have just remembered less?_ I open my eyes, and find myself staring at soil. _Well duh, it feels like I'm probably on the ground. Not sure how I should feel about that. Am I supposed to be the type of thing that is collapsed on the ground? What am I?_ The most obvious way to find out would be to turn my head up and take a look. I do just that.

It's pretty dark. Probably evening. Trees are scattered though the vicinity. But I see neither trail nor pavement. Which I thought are supposed to accompany trees. There's a lot of brown leaves on the floor. I look back up. There's few leaves left on the trees, and most of them are dying. So it's probably late in the fall. Almost winter. Then why is temperature so comfortable? Especially because I feel that I'm naked. I also see an approaching Tododile. It's the one making the footsteps. It's looking at me curiously. _How do I know what a Tododile is? Heck, how do I know the what a season is, or it's effect on temperature? Come to think of it, why am I able to see it at this time of day? Or the nearby trees, for the matter? There's probably a light behind me._

"Who are you? Where are you from? Are you okay?" The Tododile seems concerned. It's a cute Tododile, and less than half my size. _But appearances can be deceiving. I'm pretty sure these teeth can rip flesh apart. Including mine. And it looks like I don't know the answers to any of these questions. Actually, I know my name. Wait, isn't that just one letter of it?_

"I'm V. As for the rest, I'm trying to figure that out." I get up and take a look around. _Did that shadows just move?_ I look left, right, and up, but I see no lantern, no fire, and no moon. _Maybe I can just see in the dark?_ I look backwards just to make sure, and see a black tail with a bright ring around it. _Is that my tail? Maybe -I- am the light._ The problem with that theory is that it's not at the right angle to hit the Tododile. Unless light doesn't need to travel in straight lines. _Seems that I can communicate with the Tododile. How convenient._

"What do you mean, you don't know?" comes Tododile's startled reply. "Anyways, nice to meet you, Vee. My name is Aqua." _He definitely said 'Vee'. There's no way he'd say 'V' without questioning that as well._ It all comes to me. _The name 'Vee', the ringed tail, the light.. I'm an Umbreon!_ I raise a paw to confirm. It's completely black, and illuminated by the ring on my forehead. An Umbreon is definitely what I am.

I'm without my memories, and without any knowledge of this world. It seems like a bad idea to pass up any opportunity to make a friend. "Hello Aqua." _What to ask?_ "Where are we?" Probably not the best question. I'm a bit distracted by being an Umbreon. _Don't Eevees get to choose what they want to be? They get 7 choices, out of.. 493_ _, I believe? (I have no idea where I got that number from.) That's over one percent. Which is a lot, if you think about it. I wonder who chose for me._ I run through the eeveelutions in my head. _There's the three elemental ones: Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon. There's Espeon and Umbreon. And there's Leafeon and Glaceon. Come to think of it, if I were to choose, I'd pick the form I'm in right now. Maybe I did choose, but just forgot about it?_

"Not from here, huh? We're not too far from Redfor, if you know where that is." Aqua seems to notice that I don't. "Don't worry about it. We're in a pretty safe and isolated place. We're likely the only ones in the immediate vicinity right now."

I'm suspicious about all this. _And if what he says is true, one of us can surely overpower the other. Probably him, seeing as I just figured out what I am. But it seems like he wants to be friends._ I look up, and again see the dark sky obscured by the autumn leaves. "Looks like it's pretty late right now. I guess sleeping time is about now?"

Aqua nods. "Yup. I was just walking home. Want to come with me?" He starts heading back the way he came.

 _Well… I guess better to do this with someone than alone. It's a risk I have to take._ "Sure," I reply. So I follow.

Aqua looks around at the trees as we walk together. Him on two legs, and I on all fours. I have no trouble keeping up. "The forest is so beautiful under your pale light," he comments, "How is it like being an Umbreon?"

I shrug. "I don't know. It seems like I lost my memories somehow. But then, why do I know what an Umbreon, or a Tododile, or a forest is?" I take this time to appreciate the shadows that the forest makes. The shadows that I make. I guess it's pretty cool to be a miniature sun. "Say, how is it like being a Tododile?"

* * *

We approach a lake. I look to Aqua.

"Yup. That's my home! Well, a part of it." He runs towards it. I dash after him. There's a beautiful beach. We run past it. I notice a small wooden building. We approach it. He opens the door. And we head in.

There's quite a few cloth bags, and a few labeled containers. Though it's a struggle to read Aqua's messy handwriting. And there's notebooks! I love writing things down. Looks like Aqua has somehow not drenched his yet. "This is where I keep my stuff. I sleep in the lake. Though if you're spending the night with me, I'm guessing that you'll have to sleep on land."

"You just leave everything out here? No locks or anything?" I ask, "Aren't you afraid that someone is going to steal your stuff or something? Though I guess if this place is as isolated as you say…"

Aqua nods. "I don't think anyone else has been here before. Until you. Come on, I'll show you where I sleep." He opens the back door.

I follow. "So trusting. You just brought me to your home, where you keep your possessions, even though we just met an hour ago?"

"I haven't been betrayed or attacked by any civil pokemon yet," _Civil?_ "so I'll trust anyone for now. Even though I've heard some stories of meaner Pokemon." Aqua gestures to the lake. There's a few smooth rocks over a steep drop in the water. The edge of the lake at this side is padded with cloth. "I sleep over here."

I walk over to the water's edge, and look at my reflection. Black fur. Yellow rings. Red eyes. I like my look. I head back to the building, glancing at the Tododile. "May I sleep inside for the night?"

"Go ahead." Without another word, Aqua leaps into the water.

I close the door behind me. There's a candle here to light it up, but I have no need for that. There's a bunch of empty bags. I put some into a pile, and lie down on them. _Trying to get some sleep. Needs to be a little darker._ I grab a few more bags, put them over me, and try to cover up my rings. But there's still this ring on my head, and I have no plans to suffocate, so I give up on that.

I think back on the day. Tododile, so trusting. The location, so beautiful, so peaceful, so safe. _It's too perfect. Was it chosen as a place for me to make a new beginning? And what was I before?_ Eventually, my rings start fading, then go out. I smile in the darkness. And I enjoy a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

 ** _It's only here that I will speak,  
and only now that we can be.  
So know you've had a splendid start,  
and keep faith that you will go far.  
There's so much more that could be told,  
but nothing now that you must know.  
So go on, and know you'll be fine;  
all will be shown in their due time._**

The voice again. So maybe not a dreamless sleep. But does that even count as a dream? I thought dreams weren't purely auditory.

I toss the bags off myself, and look around. The room quickly lights up. I take another look at myself. Seems like my rings turned back on. But I feel hungry, so I open the back door, and walk out. I'm greeted by the sight of my new companion swimming in the pool. He notices me, and swims over. "Not sure how I'm supposed to say this, but I'm feeling hungry right now."

Aqua gives a toothy smile. "I've been waiting for you to wake up. I know just the place."

* * *

Author's Notes:

* * *

0\. Published on (4/26/2018)

1\. This note has been removed on (5/01/2018). It should no longer be necessary.

2\. Cliffhanger. I wanted to avoid those in my story, but the first chapter has to hook the reader. So...

3\. What a beautiful world. I wonder what I'm going to do that makes this story deserve a T rating. :)

4\. I originally wanted to wait until Chapter 2 to publish this, because Chapter 2 sets a lot of the mood for this story. But Chapter 2 is significantly longer, and I don't want to rush writing it, so I'm publishing what I have to get feedback ASAP.

5\. As for feedback. Please review. A few specific questions: Tododile is significantly smaller than Umbreon, but that wasn't mentioned in the chapter. Should I be referencing it? Did a time skip on the walk home. I could put more material there, but I also want to finish the story. How much 'fluff' should I put in the story? I have a time skip at the part of Chapter 2 written so far, which I could fill in. But that would make that Chapter even longer. Also, this A/N section is pretty long. Should I cut it down? Conversely, is there anything you want me to put here that isn't already here? (For example, I've written a 'summary' that could be sung to the tune of "The Sound of Silence", but putting that here seems highly unusual.)

6\. If you have any feedback, even if it's completely unrelated to these questions I've just asked, positive or negative, I'd love to hear it.

7\. (5/01/2018) Some edits to the chapter. Thanks for the feedback! The season also has a name now. Chapter 2.. still in progress. Wanted to get this update out first.

8\. (5/27/2018) The story is now divided into arcs instead of seasons.

9\. (5/30/2018) Added intro paragraph. The non-story content to story-content ratio is far higher than most, and only going up.


	3. Chapter 2A: Mystery Dungeon, Part 1

Chapter 2: Mystery Dungeon

 _"The word 'mystery' reflects the unknown. But it does so in a way that that speaks to the potential of it, and begs to solved. Thus, the word 'mystery' has a positive connotation. On the other hand, the word 'dungeon' means an underground prison cell, conjuring the images of stone and darkness. Thus, the word 'darkness', has a negative connotation. What happens when you put these words together?"_

* * *

"There's always berries," Aqua states, "but meat is the good food." I don't recall that I had eaten anything yet, but I'm inclined to agree.

He continues, "I get mine from Tranquil Grove. So I'm bringing this bag with me." I look inside. There's a few berries in there, as well as two fragile-looking spheres, a stack of carefully stored sharp-looking spikes, and a long red cloth.

This confuses me a bit. "I thought we were going there to eat meat instead of berries. Unless there's something about needing to keep a balanced diet? And what's everything else doing there?"

"These berries aren't for food," Aqua explains, taking out a pink berry. "For example, this one is a Pecha. Eating it neutralizes poison." He carefully places it back into the bag, with the other berries. _Why would you need that?_ Aqua seems to sense my question and replies: "The reason all this is necessary is because Tranquil Grove is a mystery dungeon. If you want to eat meat, you have to hunt it down. And they fight back."

"Hunting?" I ask, "I don't think I'm prepared for this. I don't even know who I was or where I am or why I'm here!" _And 'mystery dungeon' sounds pretty ominous._

Aqua puts a clawed hand on my shoulder. "Relax. Tranquil Grove is an easy dungeon, you'll be fine. Heck, you're evolved, which is more than can be said of me. I'll even pack a bag for you." He shrugs. "Though, if you -really- don't want to go, I can bring back some fruit for you. Though you'll be missing out on -so- much."

 _Might be worth trying then. But what if I fail? Well, Aqua goes there every day apparently, and he's fine. So…_ "Might as well try then. But I don't know anything about mystery dungeons. Shouldn't I learn how to fight first? I don't know why, but that sounds like the type of thing pokemon do." _I'm saying this as if I wasn't one. Was I?_

Aqua nods. "I'll tell you what I know. The first thing about fighting is the best way to learn is by doing it. And in a mystery dungeon. Tranquil Grove is actually perfect for it. It's where I started as well."

 _This seems like there might be a lot of stuff coming up._ I glance at the notebooks. "Mind if I take notes on one of them?"

"Go ahead." Aqua replies. "There's a ton of empty ones, and I've always wanted to get stuff recorded down. Though my handwriting is not the best." He chuckles.

"I'm a quadruped. I'm probably worse." I've always been humble, but the observation is likely true enough. I choose a notebook with a dark red cover. As I look at it, I wonder how the color was given to it. I open it to the first page, and nod to Aqua, ready to write. "So why start in a combat situation? As opposed to just sparring or something."

"It's as if the mystery dungeons are built for fighting. I never cared why. But Tranquil Grove has a lot of weak pokemon. And any injuries taken regenerate really quickly in a dungeon. So you can fight one, then fight another, and never tire. It feels pretty awesome." He glances at me. "I'll say this as well in case you don't know already. Pokemon actually get stronger by fighting."

I'm scribbling notes on what he's saying. My writing is even worse than his. _Paws! Why did it have to be paws? It's so hard to write with them. Though I guess they're pretty useful for moving around._ Aqua waits for me to finish. "Do you know where the pokemon come from? I'd speculate that they'd probably die out after being hunted for long enough."

"Nope. It just seems that's there's more every time I enter. I've never thought to question why when they are just there for the taking." Aqua gestures to the bag, and to a box filled with more items. "See all of this? I found those in Tranquil Grove as well, across several visits. They're just on the floor, and every time I take them, and every time I come back, there's just more! I don't know why, I don't care why, and I'm so happy that they're there." He sounds like he's getting excited just talking about it.

I finish writing down the important information. _Each entry spawns weak pokemon. No limit on supply known. No reason known. Each entry spawns various items on floor. No reason known either._ "Okay. I won't question it either then. But say that I'm the one that loses. What will happen to me?"

"That's the other reason to start in a mystery dungeon. If we were to spar, and I were to scratch you here, you'd still have the scratch on you for a while. But in a mystery dungeon, no matter what happens to you, you'll be whole and intact when you leave. And if you fall unconscious or anything, you'll just be forced to leave. No consequences at all. And if you grew stronger from battling or something in there, you keep that as well." _This seems too good to be true. Why not just do mystery dungeons to the end of my days?_

I note that, and ask, going through it all: "So if I get hurt or defeated, all of that is erased?"

"Yup. It's like you never entered in the first place. Except for what you gain."

"Memories. Do I lose any memories from going in there, and getting knocked out?"

"Not that I've ever heard of, nor experienced myself."

"And you say that fighting gives me power, and I'll keep any power I gain no matter what?"

"Exactly."

"How about items? If I find an item in there.."

"Okay, one consequence," Aqua admits, "You lose about half of what you have. Half of anything you bring in and haven't yet used, and half of anything you find. And if you eat a berry in there, then it's eaten and gone. Whether you walk out or black out." He starts packing some items into a bag for me, but I don't pay it much attention. I'm busy trying to make my handwriting at least somewhat legible.

 _Seems important._ I note that down. "And you said we are going there to hunt and eat?"

"Yup." Aqua gives a smile. "Just find a tasty pokemon, beat them conscious, and it's free breakfast, dinner, and lunch." _This cute little Tododile is a predator._ "And in case you are wondering, you'll have eaten your fill for the day, even if you black out afterwards. Not that it's ever happened to me first-hand."

I realize something. "Wait, aren't we eating live creatures? What stopped you from eating me? Or maybe you can eat me in the mystery dungeon, and I'll still be here and whole?" _This is too perfect. It might be a trap. But if it was a trap, why would Aqua go though all of.._

Aqua waves a paw dismissingly. "I forgot to mention one thing. The pokemon in mystery dungeons are known as ferals. They're pretty stupid, can't speak, and will probably attack on sight. They're not even smart enough to use items, so you'll never see them with a bag. It's also the reason they never leave the dungeon." _How convenient._ "That is in contrast to civil pokemon, such as you and I. It's a blanket term for anyone that's smart enough to speak, whether they're dumber than me or the brightest Alakazam. If you see a pokemon not in a mystery dungeon, they are civil. Which is why I didn't attack you." _He mentioned 'civil' yesterday, so he's at least not making this up on the spot._ "As for me eating you, nothing says that couldn't… but I've never heard of anyone doing it before. Why would they? So I won't eat you. You trust me, don't you?" _I do. You've helped me this much already. I don't see why you'd go through all this effort just to betray me._ He hands me the bag. "I've finished packing your bag. There's more, but I think you'll understand it better if I explain when we actually get there."

"That settles it then." I jot down this bit on the notebook, put it into the bag, and we head off.

The trees ahead form an arch. "That's the entrance of the mystery dungeon," the Tododile says. There's no missing it. The inside of the arch is blurry, like a thin layer of unfinished glass. I look back to Aqua "So do we just walk in?"

"You could." Aqua gestures to the bags. "But I think you're the type of pokemon who would first want to get familiarized with the items. We shouldn't need most of them. The berries are just there for if you get hurt. If you do ever need them, I'll tell you which you want. You can throw some of the iron spikes. They're really aerodynamic, but I never bothered trying to find out why. Do it in the dungeon though, so you don't hurt anyone. The orbs only work in dungeons. The one in your bag with the 'Q' rune on it is an Escape Orb. If you want to leave, you can use that, and you'll take your items with you. Except for the orb itself, but it saves the more important stuff. Like this scarf, which also only works in dungeons." Aqua puts on his scarf. "Put yours on as well. I gave you a Basic Scarf, which just makes you a bit stronger, and let's you take hits a bit easier. I don't get how that works either."

I put on the scarf from my bag, wrapping it around like Aqua did. I carefully attempt to replicate his motions, so that it doesn't fall off. "Cool. What stops someone from putting on ten of them and just becoming super powerful?"

Aqua tells me "Well, you could put on more than one, but each one you put on makes the rest weaker, so most pokemon don't bother with it. I've seen some pokemon put on two of them, if they want a bit of each's effect. And I've heard a rumor that putting on two of the same scarf actually does make it slightly more powerful. But if it does, I didn't notice it when I tried. At least with the scarves we are using. Might be a thing with the more expensive ones, but who can afford those?" He gestures back to the arch. "Let's go."

To be continued..

* * *

Author's notes:

* * *

0\. Published on (5/09/2018)

1\. For the few of you who have been reading before this point, I renamed the prologue "Chapter 0" and added an story introduction before it. It may be of interest to you.

2\. So I didn't get down to writing the important half of this chapter. I've always been one to strive for conciseness. But for the actual mystery dungeon part, it needs details, so I've been dreading to write it. I decided to add an introduction to my story, and while I'm at it, to publish what I have so far. Part 2 of this chapter coming when I write it. I have no idea how long it will take me. Part of the reason this half of the chapter took so long is that I've rewritten it once. (A bigger reason is that I've been doing other stuff.)

3\. Small info dump here. Though it's something the readers should know, and Vee asking this much provides good insight to his character. There's still a bit more Aqua will tell Vee about the dungeons, but that will be inside, and he'll tell it as we go.

4\. So I said that it was Chapter 2 that would set a lot of the tone for this story. Well, I was referring to the actual mystery dungeon part of Chapter 2. But you can start to see where this is going.

5\. As far as writing this story goes, I find that I'm all over the place. I've fleshed out parts of seasons 2 and 3, as well as chapter 3. It's kind of bad to do that this early, because I can't publish out of order, and I might get better ideas as I write this part as I get feedback. But when I get ideas, I write them down, because at least they are always an option later.

6\. Still shamelessly asking for reviews. Maybe Q&A as well. There's a few questions that I've raised that don't get answered until much later, so I'm not sure how keen I am on answering that. But then again, there's also questions that get answered pretty soon. And there's questions that I haven't even thought of. I don't see it hurting to ask. Best case scenario, you help me find a mistake in my story, and I get to fix it before the story gets any longer.

7\. (05/30/2018) Added intro paragraph. I hope it's not getting to the point where it looks like I'm trying to cram education in the story. If it is, please tell me. I can remove it, or shove it down into this section.

8\. (05/30/2018) I find the idea intriguing. In the fanon, a mystery dungeon is typically treated as a negative thing, caused by a distortion of space. It's a place filled with monsters that you can get lost or hurt in. Though some people occasionally come in for the treasure. Though this story uses the same idea of the Mystery Dungeon from the games, the protagonists soon see it in a positive light. Why would they not, with all the benefits being offered? This argument is kinda unfair, because of course they'd be beneficial in the games. What would a mystery dungeon game be if the optimal strategy was to avoid all the dungeons?


	4. Chapter 2B: Mystery Dungeon, Part 2

**Tranquil Grove E5**

As we stepped through the archway, the world seemed to shift. _Looks like we are in a different part of the forest._

"Disorienting, huh? Don't worry, you'll get used to it." It's Aqua speaking.

I look around. There's trees, and trees, and more trees. But they are placed strangely. We are in an open clearing, with the trees forming dense walls, except for three paths leading out. _Looks like we're going around them and not through them. This is like a labyrinth._ "So how are we supposed to get out of this Mystery Dungeon?"

Aqua chuckles. "You're wanting to leave already? Well, you'll have to find this gateway leading out. And you'll have to do it four times. Though it shouldn't take long."

As a matter of fact, I do not want to leave already. Aside from still being hungry, it's nice to view the trees around me, as strangely as they're placed. It feels like the sort of thing I didn't do enough before, despite me not remembering who I was or what I did before yesterday. While I'm looking around, I notice a subtle but indistinguishable pattern in the ground, formed of the absence of grass. _It looks like it says.. S3? No, the lines on the '3' are too straight. I'm looking at it wrong._

"Are you done sightseeing? I thought you were hungry. Let's go!" Aqua gestures to one of the paths, but he doesn't seem that impatient.

"Wait." I walk around to look at the imprint from another angle. "Does.. E5 mean anything to you?"

"No? Where did you get that from?"

I gesture for Aqua to come over. "Look, in the ground there. You can make it out, right?"

"Huh. I've never noticed that before. What does it mean?"

"Maybe it's a clue. I'll write it down." I take out my notebook.

"Okay, let's go." Aqua says. The 'after you're done writing' is implied.

"There are three paths leading out. How do you know which one to take?"

"I don't," Aqua replies, "I just choose any random one."

I put the notebook back. "Okay, how about the wide one? The other too are narrow, and I don't want to walk in single file."

"Sure," Aqua replies, and we head off.

It doesn't take long for us to stumble into a dead end. "Lovely," I say, "I guess we take another one now?"

"What else?" Aqua replies. "I use this trick where I just follow the right wall, and I get to everywhere eventually."

"The good old righth-paw rule. Don't tell me that it works every time." While the right-hand rule is a common guide, it only works in mazes that don't contain any 'cycles'. If it does, then the walls can be divided into 'islands', and the right-hand rule will not get you from one island to another. Which means that if it works every time, then that's a big clue about how the floors are laid out.

"It's failed me once or twice. But it usually works."

We have an uneventful walk back to the 'E5' room, and walk the next path. Being more experienced, Aqua takes point. I ask "So you said there are pokemon and items here. When should be expect to see them?"

"To be honest, I'm surprised that we haven't found either already." We pass a 120-degree turn.

"I've noticed something funny. This turn was 120 degrees, and all the paths back at the 'E5' room were some multiple of 60 degrees off each other. Are all the turns like this?"

"What's a deg-" Aqua interrupts his question by shooting a jet of water forward. (At what, I can't clearly see.) "Got 'im. So as I was saying, what's a degree?"

"Imagine that a full circle is 36- ..actually, I think it would be clearer if I drew it out for you."

"Save the drawing for when we get to the next room." Aqua picks up an unconscious Rattata and offers it to me. "Hungry?"

"What? That's- how?"

"Like this." Aqua puts it into his mouth and shreds it with his teeth. I see the blood and pieces of the Rattata go down his mouth as he chews. "I'll just give you the next one then. It'll be soon enough."

 _Wait a minute._ "Does the creature you just ate happen to be called a Rattata?" Aqua nods, as if it's strange for me to ask this. "Why do I know this?"

Aqua shrugs. "I'm not psychic. If you really want to know, I think there's one in Redfor." He continues walking, and I follow.

"I'll put that on my to-do list then. I take it Redfor is some kind of town?"

"Yup." We arrive at another room. This one happens to have pokemon in it. A Spearow, an Ekans, and a Sentret. _I'm not even going to question how I know their names at this point._ Aqua shoots the Spearow out of the sky, then charges in, gestures for me to follow, and clasps the Ekans in his massive jaws. He then starts chomping on it.

 _I guess this is how fighting is like._ I decide to follow suit, so I know how to fight in the future. Since I can't shoot a blast of water from my mouth, I pounce on the Sentret, and bite down. It scratches me back, but it barely hurts. It just motivates me to viciously chew into it. It soon stops fighting back, but I keep chewing for a while. The blood tastes delicious. I eventually stop, and notice Aqua looking at me, smiling. He's evidently had enough time to both defeat and devour the Ekans.

"Looks like you are strong enough without my help. Also, you're pretty fast." Come to think of it, I was. I run around the room a bit to test it, and then return to eating the Sentret. It seems so wrong to do it for some reason, but I'm hungry and it tastes good, so I'm doing it. Though it takes me a lot longer to eat it than it took Aqua. I kind of wish I had jaws like his. "Have the Spearow too. I've already eaten two for today." He's being generous, as the ones he's letting me eat are bigger than the ones he has eaten. But I'm also bigger than him, so I take him up on the offer. As I eat, he picks up a few berries and a shiny yellow clump of metal from the ground, and puts it into his bag.

"So, what were these degree things?"

I take out the notebook. "It's a concept we use to measure angles." I draw a straight line across the page, and draw a small semicircle on it. "So I'd say this arc is 180 degrees." I draw a vertical line from it to the top of the page. "And this line divides the angle in two, which means each get 90 degrees." I then draw two lights though the intersection, trisecting the bottom half. "On this other hand, since I divided this 180-degree angle into three, each is 60 degrees."

I turn the page, and draw a 120-degree angle on it. "Notice how the two exits on this room form this angle?" I then draw a 60-degree angle, and ask: "So have all of the turns you've seen on paths so far follow one of those two angles?"

Aqua turns the page back, then forward again, and says "Yes. How did you know that?"

"I didn't. It was a guess. The interesting thing about multiples of 60-degrees is that you could draw a hex map, and all paths from it would be 60 degrees away from each other." I draw a few tessellating hexes as an example. "I'd be tempted to try to map out this section of the mystery dungeon this way, but it'd take so much time to draw out all of these hexes, I'm not sure it's worth the time."

"Don't do it then," says Aqua, "I don't like waiting that much. Let's keep going?"

"I'd like to try leading this time. There should be enough space for me to push past you if I get into trouble." And we follow the other exit.

The path has another 120-degree turn, no pokemon in it, and does not lead to a dead-end. Instead, it leads to another room with a Skitty and a Rattata in it. I hesitate, and they block the way. I say out loud "Well, what I'm not doing is fighting them both at the same time while you are blocked behind me and can't help."

The feral pokemon don't see to understand, but Aqua does. "Smart thinking. It never occurred to me, since I always do this alone." He takes a step back, and so do I. The Skitty follows, and the Rattata doesn't have enough room in this cramped passage without squeezing, and so waits behind.

"Why don't the ferals fight each other?" I ask, before biting into the Skitty. I like how sharp my teeth are, and I try to get some practice efficiently ripping into it's flesh. It doesn't take long for the Skitty to be knocked unconscious, and the Rattata apathetically watches as I eat it's ally alive.

Until the Rattata, suddenly leaps into my face, and bites my cheek. I yelp in pain, and smash my face into the tree wall. Then I walk over it, leaving Aqua to finish off the dazed Rattata.

"It was your kill," Aqua says, "But I'm not one to pass up free food."

"Just feels to me that I shouldn't eat too much. We're not even a quarter of the way through, and I've already eaten what has got to be more than half my body weight in pokemon. That can't be good." I rub the wound on my cheek.

"Don't worry about the bite. It'll be gone in no time. Something specific to mystery dungeons though, so try to not hurt yourself once we get out. And what's wrong with eating that much?"

"If you eat this much every day, how do you stay so small? Are you able to burn all that mass by fighting?"

"Probably. We don't retain all this weight. Or maybe they get converted to water somehow? But I wouldn't worry about it. I've never heard of any pokemon getting weighed down by eating."

I walk back into the room, and I see the gateway. _I guess I couldn't see it from my old angle._ "So I take it that when we go through, we're not coming back?"

"Yeah. You -definitely- don't want to leave your bag behind here. But before you go, let's pick up the items in this room."

I collect the berries scattered around. "So what are these used for? And why are you collecting pebbles?"

Aqua says, "These pebbles are for you. I've never cared much to collect them before you came around, but since you can't really attack at a distance, it's good to have something to throw. As for the berries, those are Plain Berries. They don't really have a use, so feel free to eat them."

I eat one. "Sweet. But not as delicious as feral pokemon."

"I'm glad that you agree with me. But might as well bring them anyways. Let's go."

"Wait." I notice a pattern on the ground. I reposition myself to read it, and it says 'E5'. The gateway is immediately to the right of it. "E5 again. What is that supposed to mean?"

"You expect me to know by now? You're the smart one. I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually." And we leave.

* * *

Author's Notes

* * *

0\. Published on (27/05/2018)

1\. Can you guess what the tile of the next floor is going to be?

2\. I hope this section of the chapter proved informative. Perhaps you learned about the right-hand rule? Coming 2C: the gold standard!

3\. It seems like every piece of this story is covering exponentially more ground. 2B covers one floor. 2C covers the other 3, and ends the chapter. Chapter 3 will cover about 4 runs though this same dungeon. As with any exponential growth, that pace cannot be maintained, else this story would be over by chapter 6.

4\. ..yeah, cannibalism is often considered taboo. But since each different type of pokemon represents a different species, this is technically predation, which is pretty logical. It's not going to be the focus of this story, but I'm not trying to shield you from it. In either case, this sets how some of the darker parts of the story might go, so if you're not into that..

5\. It took me half an hour to write a 1700-word backstory for a character in an RP, and 2.5 weeks to write 1700 words for this story. FML.

6\. Since this part was kinda short, I'll give you the Tranquil Grove Dungeon info:

Pokemon (floors 1 to 4):

Weedle (L: 1-3)  
Ekans (L: 1-3)  
Rattata (L: 2-3)  
Spearow (L: 2-3)  
Sentret (L: 2-3)  
Spinrak (L: 2-3)  
Skitty (L: 2-3)  
Snivy (L: 3-4)  
Sewaddle (L: 3-4)

Common Items:

Poke  
Geo Pebble  
Plain Berry  
Oran Berry  
Pecha Berry

Rare Items:

Silver Spike  
Basic Scarf  
Escape Orb  
Luminous Orb  
Heal Seed

Keep in mind that other items can also drop, but it's extremely rare. That's how Aqua obtained his Bubble Scarf.

7\. For the observant of you, 5 of the 6 types of pokemon in Piny Woods are in the above table. You should be easily able to figure out the sixth. Don't overthink it. Also, have you figured out why Snivy and Sewaddle are so high leveled?

8\. If you want to know where our characters are at, those will be available as an A/N in the middle of Chapter 3.

9\. I'm putting way too much information in this section.

10\. Reviews please.

11\. Apparently, author's notes get read more when written as a dialogue between the author and a character. Should I try that?

12\. (06/06/2018) Fixed typo. Also made note 4 more formal. 2C.. soon^TM


	5. Thoughts, Review Responses, and Forwards

So I've had some thoughts on other stories and mine, and I don't want to inflate the word count on this story, so I've put some of them on pastebin at BxSQAbmV. (I had a few more thoughts I didn't write down, so feel free to ask for clarification.) The thoughts on the other stories are just my own opinions, and it's highly self-critical, but I don't intend on giving up writing.

I've gotten some reviews over the past few days, so on to them:

* * *

$Chelsea Thanks for the review. I just meant "fluff" in the idea of "anything that doesn't directly advance the plot", with no romantic connotation. Thanks for the tips.

$MasNUmber THANK YOU SO MUCH! Detailed and critical review, exactly what I want to see.

 _I recommend moving your fanfic to a place where people are willing to give productive advice instead of hedonistically basking in the alleged glorious pinnacle of creativity and wit that is your writings._

I am interested. If I may ask, where might this place be?

 _0\. Rewrite the Summary_

Thanks for pointing these out, because I've completely missed the problems there by myself. I'll try to think of a better one.

 _1\. Remove the Author's Notes_

That would be a great reason why all of the good stories either don't have them or keep them minimal. The profile page is an idea, but it might get cluttered. Maybe I'll put them all on pastebin, and have a stack of links to them on my profile page? Maybe I'll find another place offsite to put them. Thanks for pointing this out.

 _2\. Show, not tell._

Great point, and great explanation for it. Great suggestion too. I'll keep this in mind. Again, thanks so much for the review.

$Miner7365

Thanks for reviewing. Here's my response:

 _Now, I don't want to seem overly critical with this, .._

Please do. An overly critical review is far more informative than a 'soft' one.

 _I'll use one of your sentences from the story as a example._

 _It's pretty dark. Probably evening. Trees are scattered in the vicinity. But I see neither trail nor pavement._

For this specific instance, I wanted to write it like that, just to convey the idea that Vee was noticing one detail at a time. But for the general story, I agree. I'm guessing the problem is if I'm trying to keep each idea to a separate sentence, and I don't have much exposition to expand on these ideas, then the sentences will all end up short like this.

 _.. although I guess I should comment on the whole multiple lines of dialogue on one paragraph._

 _It is generally a bad idea to do that, no matter the circumstances. Unless they are from the same character just avoid it._

I've looked again at my story, and I think I've kept all the dialogue in one paragraph by the same character. If I've missed any, please point it out. Or are you saying that it's bad to have multiple pieces of dialogue in the same paragraph in general, even if it's by the same character?

In any case, thanks for dropping the review.

* * *

So looking at this all over again, a main problem of mine just seems to be lacking exposition. Okay, I should be really embarrassed actually, because I've decided to write and publish this specifically to improve my writing skills, then I've avoided doing what I need the most improvement on. I'm looking at my options here:

1\. Go back and edit the chapters, then continue. This seems to be the 'default' option when something needs fixing, but I'm looking at more extreme options.

2\. Reboot the story. So it looks like a lot of advice is to not reboot fanfiction, but I think it might work here. If the problems are as severe as I think, editing the story will mostly come down to a rewrite. In addition, there's only been a few thousand words written, so if I reboot the story this early, it shouldn't be that bad, compared to doing so later. Also, I'll have an old version to refer to, and see what mistakes I have made and how much I've improved.

3\. Put the story on hold. I've identified a few characteristics good stories tend to have and this one does not. I've diverged from them for a reason, but perhaps I was being too ambitious. I'm thinking maybe I write a shorter story more like the others, which in theory might be easier to write well, and maybe after doing that I'll have developed the skills needed to write this story well. (Though I've done a bunch of planning for this story, so I'm not sure if taking a break from it will get that out of my mind or anything. I've recorded a lot of my planning down though, so I should be able to read my notes to have reference to it.)

So I'd like to ask everyone still reading this if they have any advice on how I should move forwards. Thanks for reading!


End file.
